Soft Skills

ARTICLES ABOUT SOFT SKILLS BY DATE - PAGE 3

CHENNAI: As part of enhancing infrastructure in Industrial Training Institutes, Tamil Nadu government today announced a financial grant of Rs 7.16 crore. The amount would be used for construction of buildings and establishment of computer labs in 35 ITIs in the state. Subjects including computer skills, language skills and soft skills have been incorportated in the new syllabus, an official release said. The government also issued orders for setting up of adequate software, desktop computers and trainers to offer the training for the students, the release said.

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir government has fixed a target of imparting skills to nine lakh youth during the 12th Plan period , Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said. "We are moving forward in this direction. However, during the course some re-designing or re-arranging may be required to suit the job market requirements for higher placement avenues," he said reviewing implementation of the J&K Skill Development Mission. Omar said the success of the skill development mission can only be realised when placement of these youth and utilisation of their learnt skills is ensured, adding that this aspect is critical to the whole programme.

MUMBAI: A subtle and silent change is underway in India Inc on the emphasis it seeks in its CEOs: humble and not haughty, sensitive and not insular, about solid teams and not about star individuals. This greater emphasis on soft skills, a manifestation of an economy in crisis and change, is illustrated by how a global bank, with headcount of about 1,000 in India, redefined its search for a country head to executivesearch firm Kelly Services a few months ago. When Kelly presented candidates with plum degrees who had nurtured big brands, the bank's board showed no interest in even meeting them.

Few thought leaders have challenged conventional thinking in any management discipline the way Dr Daniel Goleman did when the ex- journalist published his seminal tome Emotional Intelligence in the mid-nineties. With his groundbreaking research, Goleman demolished the idea that IQ (Intelligence Quotient) was the most critical aspect for workplace success. The psychologist introduced a new word in the management lexicon, EQ (Emotional Quotient) that soon became a rage in the world of leaders.

BANGALORE: A rap music video, which explores the feasibility of using rhythm as a tool for education, has brought 18-year-old Suresh Rangaswamy the experience to be a part of Adobe Youth Voices Summit in California. About 136 youth and educators from across the world attended the Summit from August 13-18 where India was represented by three students. "With the explosion of rap rhythms all over, we have used this genre to garner impetus in this music video," explains an excited Rangaswamay, back from his trip.

NEW DELHI: Union HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju today supported a proposal from industry for setting up of centres of excellence for skills on the lines of IITs and the Indian School of Law under the government's skilling initiatives. He said he would "certainly carry them forward", after a suggestion in this regard was made by CEO and MD of Larsen and Toubro , K Venkataraman. Participating at the sixth global skills summit, the L&T MD suggested that each of these centres could be devoted to skilling for different sectors such as construction, telecom, including soft skills.

NEW DELHI: Rising automation and low attrition in IT sector may act as a dampener for job seekers with industry body Nasscom expecting hiring to decline by up to 17 per cent to 1,50,000 in the current fiscal. The USD 108-billion Indian IT-ITeS sector provides employment to about 3 million professionals. "I think we will have net additions of 150,000-180,000 this year. Last year it was about 180,000," Nasscom President Som Mittal told PTI when asked about the hiring environment.

CHENNAI: Hiring for IT graduates in the country would witness a slight difference from this year, as hiring patterns have changed and priorities placed on soft skills and domain-based specialisation, a top NASSCOM official said today. "The hiring might not be the same from this year, since the hiring patterns has changed," NASSCOM president Som Mittal told reporters here. He also attributed the slow hiring pattern to the slow attrition rates in the country, "When the attrition rates are less, naturally hiring rates will also be slower.

Engineering is an expensive degree, not just in terms of the tuition fee, but also the prohibitive cost of books. Realising how it impacted the students from low socio-economic groups, Bangalore-based Vishesh Jayawanth decided to do something about it. The result? RentMyText.in, India's first online book renting store for engineering students. The 24-year-old stumbled on the idea while studying at Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore. Ranga , the social platform he started to get college students to teach soft skills to children in various orphanages in the city, opened his eyes to a sorry state of affairs.

NEW DELHI: Six years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh first urged India Inc to pro-actively offer employment to the less privileged sections of society, the government has not been able to walk the talk. A special recruitment drive initiated by it has failed to meet targets. Under the government's affirmative drive launched in 2008 and focused purely on offering jobs to candidates from Scheduled Castes , Scheduled Tribes , Other Backward Classes and the disabled categories, 47,000 vacancies have been filled out of a target of 75,500.